Caught in a Bad Romance
by Spiorad Fear
Summary: Kurt in struggling with his situation. He needs a friend, enter Finn, and a pick me up in the form of Gaga! Finn might get more than he ever expected for as well. Spoiler: Set during 'Theatricality', series 1.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: This is my very first story, and I hope you enjoy it. Constructive criticism would be lovely.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Glee or its characters, all credit to the creators of Glee! **

Chapter One

He was supposed to be excited; he knew that. The New Directions were nearing the uncharted territory of Regionals with what was shaping up to be a kick-ass set list, yet Kurt just could not seem to get into the swing. He knew what the problem was, of course, but he couldn't do anything about it.

Kurt had accepted the consequences of being the only out gay kid at a high school long ago; he was totally alone. Not literally of course, Kurt still had his Glee friends and Mercedes was more like a sister to him, but he was alone in his way. It made him sad how all of the other Glee kids seemed to trade boyfriends and girlfriends every week, bitching about it all the while, when they didn't realise how lucky they were. Kurt couldn't just tell the one he loved how he felt or try to steal them away because they weren't like him. So he was alone, in that one but unfortunately incredibly important way.

What upset him the most was that he thought it was totally unfair. Kurt had always seen himself as more mature than the other kids; he was forced to mature at a young age, dealing with issues at 8 years old that would have scared the rest of them to death, all without a mother who he desperately needed to talk to. Kurt thought his situation unfair because whilst the rest of them played 'musical partners' he knew that if he could just have one chance to prove his love for _that_ person, they would never part again, but he would never get that chance.

"_That"_, Kurt thought to himself, _"that is the definition of unfair."_

Kurt could see that it was becoming rather ridiculous. Most of a school year had passed since Finn shouted at Puck about impulse control for pushing him into the lockers and his feelings had just snowballed from there. That was the first time that a guy had ever even noticed Kurt, let alone stood up for him, and from that first time when Finn gave him that little apology half-smile, the one that made him faze out of reality, Kurt knew that he was smitten.

At first it was nothing serious, it was a crush, everyone has crushes and he was enjoying it. Kurt would find himself relishing Finn's company in Glee club after the sometimes dastardly Mr Schuester tricked him into joining. He would occasionally stare at the back of Finn's head for slightly too long in classes or would suffer through some inane story of Finn's about football plays just so that he could be near him, but he was always careful not to let it develop into something more. Kurt could foresee the resulting mess of falling for Finn. That was another little hindrance of being so mature, overbearing foresight.

It wasn't too hard to keep himself emotionally distant from Finn. Although they had been friends since Finn joined Glee, they had never spent too long together or been forced to interact. Kurt knew that if he started feeling too much, he could simply walk away. Also, the fact that they had never talked about anything emotional, only superficial stuff, helped the situation immensely.

Strolling down the halls of McKinley High, Kurt enjoyed reminiscing about that simpler time when his plan was working so well, when he could want to go to school and when he could have fun with Finn. He chewed on the inside of his cheek with a bitter expression on his face as he remembered how he felt that he could carry on manipulating the situation for ever without it souring. Rather abruptly for Kurt's taste, it all went wrong that week in Glee club when they had to sing ballads. Mr Schue thought that they should learn what a ballad was, and sing one to a partner. Kurt, being the hopeless romantic that he was, was initially thrilled.

But then Mr Schue revealed his plan that fate would decide who their serenading partners would be. Kurt thought that Mr Schue was far too smug with himself considering the unbearable partnerships that his little plan could produce, and just as Kurt was imaging what ballad he could find that included the word "bitch" in the title if he was landed with Quinn or Santana, Finn pulled his chosen name out of the hat.

"_Kurt,"_ he said simply.

That was it. His plan seemed to fly out of the window, but what scared Kurt more is that he didn't seem to care. He and Finn inevitably spent more time together one-on-one than they ever had before being ballad partners. However, Finn was always distant, worrying about his baby and the ever pestering and controlling Quinn.

Much to Kurt's joy, their partnership seemed to become easier over the week as Finn loosened up and their friendship reached a new level as they talked Finn through his problems, giving Finn a much needed emotional release. Finn had been reclusive at first, and Kurt had been worried that he could see through his visage of the innocent, concerned friend, but after helping Finn sing his feelings towards his unborn child, Finn had let Kurt in and told him why he was so quiet; his waning confidence. Kurt realised then that he had let himself down. He had talked about feelings, he had broken down that last barrier, and he was in love.

So now he was trapped exactly where he wanted to avoid, in a sharp whirlwind of feelings where all he could see or think about or feel, was Finn, where thoughts of Finn were all that invaded his head and kept him functioning. He knew that falling in too deep into anything would open up a whole load of buried insecurities and longings that he had learned to hide, even from himself, and he kicked himself for it.

What's more, after the events of baby-gate unfolded and Finn found out the truth about the baby being Puck's, Kurt had deluded himself into thinking that now that Quinn was out of the way, he had some sort of chance to move in on Finn. As they had built up a dialogue in previous months, to Kurt's delight he was one of Finn's main supports as he struggled with the harsh news of Quinn's cheating, and when Kurt's newly released feelings were coupled with this level of intimacy, he quickly found the situation spiralling out of his control.

After months of coping, Kurt's fragility was increasing and his decision making bore the brunt of his strain. In what he could now see was a ridiculous move, he had introduced his dad to Finn's mum in a desperate attempt to get closer to Finn, but boy how that had backfired. Kurt's dad was now dating Finn's mum, and they had all ended up living together. Kurt loathed this arrangement, and despite the heart warming smiles that Carole brought to his dad's face, he could not learn to love it. He saw Finn every morning and every night as well as during the day, and this meant that his face was being constantly rubbed in his feelings.

However, he had to get on with his life, and with every hair sprayed perfectly into place, Kurt practically cantered towards the choir room. Glee was obviously his favourite part of the day as it was his preparation for inevitable stardom, and he was surrounded by the only people that understood him and actually liked him for who he was. He felt a wrench in his gut as he admitted to himself that he was also so excited because Glee was where he was. He skidded to a halt, mentally slapping himself halfway down the corridor.

"_Would you just stop thinking for a change, this is the fun part of your day."_

As he jogged down the corridor and rounded the corner to the unmistakably annoying opinions of Rachel Berry already in full flight, he was horrified at the sight that greeted him. Tina sat in the front row, wearing jogging bottoms and a plain hooded jumper. Kurt listened absolutely aghast whilst Tina explained that she was no longer allowed to wear her 'Goth-Girl' image by order of Principal Figgin's. It offended him on two fronts, firstly it was a travesty to fashion that Tina had to resort to _jogging bottoms_, but mostly it was inexcusable to him that someone should have to hide their uniqueness.

Coincidentally, Rachel had a reason to be spouting at the top of her voice for once; she had discovered that Vocal Adrenaline were working on a Lady Gaga number. This spelt crushing defeat for the New Directions at Regionals because as Artie pointed out, she was a perfect fit for them. Spurred on by the Glee clubs presence, which always afforded him strength, Kurt knew that they had to act fast to counteract the Vocal Adrenaline genius and was hurriedly brain-storming when Mr Schue had one of his admittedly more fantastic ideas.

He suggested that they should do a Gaga number and find Tina a new look at the same time, killing two birds with one stone. It was absolutely brilliant and Kurt was buzzing with excitement as soon as the words left Mr Schue's lips. This was going to be Kurt's best assignment of the year by far.

And they get to burn those hideously atrocious jogging bottoms.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

The halls of McKinley High were brighter shades of red and yellow as the excitement coursed through Kurt's veins. Theatricality was what Kurt lived for, he didn't even have to consciously think about it; he breathed it. Lady Gaga was an absolute icon, and a personal one at that. Kurt had thought that nothing would top the week when they focussed on Madonna, but this was it; this assignment was just what he needed to pick himself up.

He and the girls had decided that they should focus on Gaga's 'Bad Romance' as their group number. The boys weren't exactly contributing so Kurt and Rachel had taken the reigns. Through Kurt's insistence there had been a meeting between all of the girls and Kurt during lunch to discuss which Gaga look each of them should rock; he simply could not risk two of them picking the same one. They were only in the very early stages of planning but Kurt already felt lighter and bouncier than he had in a long time and only a couple of days later, the first aim of the assignment was complete: Tina had found herself a fabulous new look.

"_I love wearing champagne bubbles! I get to express a whole different side of myself," _she gushed.

Kurt was glowing as he strode next to her, basking in Tina's new found joy that only Lady Gaga could have provided. He held his head high as he strutted down the hallway in the signature Armadillo's and sparkly outfit from Gaga's 'Bad Romance' video itself; the one that made Gaga look like a glittering crustacean of some kind. The only thing that kept the walk down the hallway from being absolutely perfect was the oafs Karofsky and Azimio pushing them into the lockers. As always, the bullying terrified Kurt as a bolt of trepidation shot up his spine, although he would never dream of showing them his fear. It was hard not to be scared; the football players were so much bigger than him, and always seemed to come in pairs. Usually he could brush off the abuse quite easily when it was just two of the generic morons, but there was just something about the ferocious way that Karofsky looked at him that chilled Kurt to the bone. It felt like Karofsky wanted to rip him apart.

"_Excuse me, were you dropped on your heads?" _Kurt exploded, on the defence.

"_Don't push me Hummel!_,_"_ Azimio threatened as he wheeled around.

But Kurt could see the hurt on Tina's face and he was not going to let it slide; no one pushes the Hummel's around. His father's words seemed like little comfort as the two gorillas bore down on him.

"_I'm just saying, pick on me that's fine, but don't throw around a girl,"_ Kurt reasoned in a quivering tone.

"_Well you dress all freaky, and then you rub it in everyone's faces. I don't wanna look at it all day. It makes my eyes tired," _Karofsky sneered menacingly.

"_Its called being theatrical, we're showing off who we are. It's the same thing that you do when you come to school with your football uniforms on, your expressing yourself and we have every right to do the same." _Kurt's tone became stronger as he accustomed to the trapped space between the lockers and the thugs. He tried to disguise a scared step away from Karofsky as a brave advance on Azimio, praying that Karofsky wouldn't notice. He shouldn't have worried; Karofsky wasn't ever the brightest of sparks, and even less acutely tuned to subtlety.

"_Well don't be shocked if my fist feels like expressing itself against your chin!"_ Azimio shouted, blasting his knuckles against the metal. For a second that hung in the air like a dark cloud, the four of them stood there, simply staring at each other, refusing to break eye contact. Eventually though, Karofsky and Azimio turned on their heels and rounded the corner.

After the confrontation had died down Kurt could think more clearly, and although he was infuriated, he breathed deeply, trying to regain his good mood. He would be damned if any aspect of this assignment was going to be ruined by those idiots. He smiled at Tina as he realised that although it frustrated him that the Glee club faced this daily adversity, it meant that they and their theatrical efforts were being noticed, which he supposed was the point after all.

"_Are you alright, Tina?"_ he asked, as brightly as he could manage.

"_Thank you Kurt, I know he scares you,"_ she smiled, and with a nod of camaraderie, they shuffled their way to Glee club with their composure renewed.

_**-Caught in a Bad Romance-**_

Kurt found that whilst swaying slowly to the enchanting melodies of Gaga's 'Speechless', it was just too hard to be annoyed that one of his Armadillo's was damaged earlier by his confrontation with Karofsky. In fact, sat in his calming basement bedroom, with Mother Monster's delicious accent pouring emotion into every syllable she sang, he found the opportunity to work even more on his costume to be a welcome break. He had to admit, he definitely needed the relaxation, what with Finn sat at the mirror across the room. He was removing his Kiss makeup, which is what the boys had decided to do for their theatricality project. Kurt thought that it was weird that they refused to sing Gaga, but they were willing to slather themselves with makeup. Still, he had to admit that Finn looked very sweet fumbling with a paper towel; then he realised that he had been staring for a bit too long.

"_Do you think you could have a word with Azimio and Karofsky about harassing me without damaging my Gaga outfit?" _Kurt quipped, annoyed for letting himself return to reality.

"_Are you kidding?"_ Finn spluttered incredulously, staring at Kurt's reflection in the mirror, _"Don't you know how hard it is with those guys; they already think we're boyfriends."_

In spite of himself, Kurt could not stop his heart from fluttering at the mention of that word, despite the slightly venomous tone that Finn muttered it in. He hastily pulled himself together, trying to refocus on his shoe.

"_Let them think what they want, they're Neanderthals. In three years they'll be cleaning my sceptic tank,"_ Kurt sighed whilst replacing a rogue sequin to its rightful place, trying to hide the shaking of his hands in the delicate work. Finn spun around in the chair, a look of annoyance spreading through his face.

"_Don't you get it! It's not just them dude, it's this place, it's Ohio. People here just don't….get guys like you. And that's not cool, it's not, but I don't know why you always have to make such a spectacle of yourself,"_ he stressed, gesturing towards Kurt with a throwaway hand, _"why can't you just try harder at blending in?"_

Kurt stiffened and glared at Finn as he returned to scrubbing his face. Kurt slowly placed his shoe on his desk, crossed his legs defiantly and waited for the silence, broken only by his jagged breathing, to do its work. Finn sighed, his shoulders dropping as though he had been deflated, and as he dropped yet another paper towel into the bin, he turned to face Kurt once more.

"_Kurt, I'm sor-"_

"_I'm sure that would be easier for you,"_ Kurt interrupted bitterly, undeterred by the apology stirring behind Finn's eyes. He was too occupied with keeping the tears from escaping his own. Finn bristled, and any trace of the apology was lost behind the steely expression he shot towards Kurt.

"_You know what? It would,"_ Finn said coldly, and with that, they each sat with no idea what to say next. Kurt could feel that he was going to break first, his face was going to betray him and there was no way he was going to let Finn see how much his simple words had hurt him. Kurt rose, deliberately pacing himself so that it didn't look like he was running away anymore than it did already.

As Kurt ascended the stairs, Finn could already feel the guilt swirling around his body. He hated fighting with people and being bitchy, it wasn't who he was. In fact, that was one of the main reasons why he agreed to join Glee club at the start of the year, so that he could escape from the cliquey cheerleaders and pig-headed football players and actually give his friendship to people who deserved it, like Kurt. He liked Kurt and always had done. At first, Kurt had weirded him out a bit with his brand of mould-breaking fashion and his seemingly undying love for Patti LuPone, but those are the qualities that Finn had come to cherish about Kurt, and he couldn't work out where along the way he had lost sight of that.

After all, Kurt had been absolutely amazing over the past few months. Finn watched Kurt disappear further up the staircase whilst he remembered all of the support that Kurt had given him over the 'Quinn-and-the-baby' fiasco; all of the heart to heart talks and late night phone calls when he was struggling to cope. For some reason that Finn could not quite pin-point, ever since their parents had started dating he had forgotten all of that and just become angry.

At first Finn had thought that the idea of moving out of his house, or Burt trying to take his Mom away was the reason for his anger, but those feelings had soon been resolved as he and Burt bonded over sports and their love of his Mom. So that could not be it.

Then he thought that the reason why he was so angry was that he did not want to be any closer to Kurt. Finn knew that he was not the cleverest of people, but he wasn't stupid. He knew that Kurt had a thing for him, he could see it in all of the sneaky glances that Kurt gave him or how Kurt would talk to him about things like football when Finn knew that he couldn't care less. Finn had thought that his anger was stemming from the fact that he was growing ever closer to Kurt; that the situation was slipping out of his control and he was becoming uncomfortable with it, as well as being harassed for it by the guys at school, but as he watched Kurt's heels vanish at the top of the stairs, all he felt was remorse over their altercation. Besides, he had always harboured a secret feeling of flattery at being Kurt's choice. Finn could tell that he was running around in mental circles, muddling himself up and he resolved that at that moment, all he should be worrying about was losing a friend.

Finn furrowed his brow in confusion as he spun back to face the mirror; he would have to work out what was going on, what he was feeling, because he didn't like being this way. It worried him.

"_Finn…,"_ he heard Kurt call in a small voice from the peak of the stairs.

"_Yes Kurt?"_ he answered back in relief; at least it seemed like he hadn't burned too many bridges.

"_You'll need to use moist towelettes if you want that makeup off before next year," _Kurt mused, with a dash of his trademark sarcasm returning to his voice. Somehow that made Finn feel worse; he could be a childish moron and Kurt still wouldn't hold a grudge.

"_Thank you, Kurt,"_ Finn replied, flooding as much apology into his voice as he could muster. He heard the basement door quietly click shut, and Finn allowed himself a tiny smile as he spotted the moist towelettes.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When Finn awoke early the next morning, he was certain that he hadn't heard Kurt return down to their shared bedroom the night before. It was a couple of hours before school but he sat up, flicked on his bedside lamp and glanced through sleepy eyes at Kurt's bed, which was empty. On remembering last nights events, it struck Finn how difficult it must be for Kurt to sleep in the same room as him, just metres away, feeling the way that he did, and the sickening feeling of swirly guilt returned all too soon, accompanied by that alien feeling of which Finn still could not identify.

Emerging from the basement doorway, Finn saw Kurt wrapped up in a blanket on the couch, his head lolling to one side. As Finn slowly approached, he watched Kurt with intrigue, wondering not only how someone could fall asleep in that position, but also how he had never noticed before how little Kurt was. Dragging his heavy gaze across the room, Finn felt a new twinge of guilt in his gut as he noticed the case of Kurt's 'The Wizard of Oz' DVD sitting on the coffee table; he only ever watched it when he was sad, to cheer himself up. Finn had found this out during one of their chats earlier in the year. It apparently reminded Kurt of his mother; Finn felt vile.

Returning his attention to Kurt, Finn crept to the couch. He thought for a second, wondering if he should just pass Kurt as he obviously didn't get much sleep. However, Finn didn't want him to strain his neck, so he lowered himself carefully next to Kurt, trying not to disrupt the couch too much with his heavy frame, and slid his shoulder under Kurt's still face. He sat up slightly straighter so that Kurt could rest against him and this appeased Finn's guilt slightly, knowing that on some level he had decisively acted for Kurt's benefit. He knew that his apology was going to have to be better than that, but it was a start.

Now that he was settled and aligned with the T.V, Finn could see that Kurt must have fallen asleep to the movie as he could see the menu screen dancing in front of him, suggesting that the film had run full cycle. He wished he had noticed this earlier, as now the remote was tauntingly out of reach if he wanted to get it without waking Kurt, even with his long limbs. With a self contained grumble about hating mornings, Finn yawned, giving in, and accepted perusing the living room as a form of entertainment.

The Hudson's and Hummel's had been living together for some time now, and Finn had inspected this room many times, but there was something about how the early morning light streamed through the pale curtains accompanied by the tranquillity of the quiet house that made everything appear differently. As he scanned, Finn noticed how every detail of the house was Kurt, whether it was the stylish trimmings of the room that Finn could not believe would be down to Burt, or the fact that every wall and sideboard had a photo of Kurt on it somewhere, nestled amongst the rest of the family who Finn knew they rarely saw.

Finn smiled to himself. He also knew that Kurt disliked having his picture taken, so the fact that the room was lined with them had to be down to somebody else's insistence. It warmed Finn to know that no matter what happened to Kurt, his friend had a home like this filled with nothing but love for him that he could escape to.

As Finn started to sift through the menagerie of thoughts wafting through his head, including confusion as to why the strange fuzziness he kept experiencing was surrounding him once more, or the surprise at himself that he could actually remember any of the things Kurt had told him, he heard a change in Kurt's breathing as he began to stir.

"_Oh well," _Finnthought, casting his cognitions aside,_ "its way too early in the morning to do this much thinking anyway."_

Kurt cracked his eyes, and Finn found himself gently chuckling to the look of confusion on his face. After a second, it dawned on Kurt where he was and he rolled himself to a sitting position, groaning with fatigue as he went. Finn decided that sooner was probably better than later for apologies; Kurt's sharp wit would be numbed by weariness.

"_Look Kurt,"_ he began, his eyes darting to the floor, _"I'm really sorry about what I said yesterday. You shouldn't have to disguise who you are, that's not right."_

"_No Finn, I'm sorry. Karofsky and Azimio are my problem, not yours." _Kurt huffed, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"_No, dude,"_ Finn whined, a wave of shame washing over him_, "Look, it hasn't been easy on me, what with the guys at school and all, since we moved in together, but I haven't dealt with things as well as I could have, and I've been really selfish. You helped me when I really needed it, and I'm gunna do the same. I promise." _

Finn finished his impassioned speech by gazing at the opposite wall whilst placing his hand on Kurt's still wrapped shoulder, and there was a short silence as Finn anxiously awaited a reply, rather unsure of what to expect.

"_Thank you,"_ Kurt eventually whispered, his disused voice breaking slightly, and Finn realised the reason why Kurt had faltered as he turned his head to watch a singular tear escape from the corner of Kurt's eye.

"_Hey man, no problem,"_ Finn grinned, overcome with relief and gentle affection for the slighter boy. He rolled Kurt back onto his shoulder and hugged him to his side, _"And you know what? It's your guys' performance today, and I can't wait to see it, I bet you're gunna rock it."_

"_Well in that case," _Kurt sighed, prying himself away from Finn and hauling himself out of the tangle of blankets,_ "I'd best go and get ready." _Hestaggered towards the basement door watched by a bemused Finn.

"_Kurt, it's 6.15. We have hours before school,"_ Finn pointed out, sitting up.

"_Yes,"_ Kurt said simply, raising his eyebrows as he turned in the basement doorway, _"and hours is what it takes if you want to look as good as me on a daily basis,"_ he finished with a slender smile on his lips.

Finn smirked at Kurt's back as he ever gracefully descended to the bedroom, and as simply as that, Finn felt better than he had in weeks. He still could not work out why he had got so worked up in the first place, yet, what he did know, as he leaned forward onto his knees and clicked the 'off' button on the T.V remote, was that he would make good on his promise.

_**-Caught in a bad Romance-**_

During the car ride into school, Finn had managed to dig a few details of the coming performance out of Kurt, and now as he and the boys filed into the auditorium behind Mr Schue, Finn found himself growing increasingly excited. He still didn't know much about Lady Gaga, and he had not managed to obtain any information of consequence out of a defiant Kurt, but when Finn observed how the girls and Kurt were already in their starting positions under dimmed lights, he smiled to himself as he sat, knowing that he was about to watch a fantastic show.

Kurt eagerly awaited the first tap of the drummer's sticks that would lead him into his favourite lead vocals to date, and he felt nervous. Kurt hadn't felt this nervous about a performance in years, he lived for the opportunity to shine, but as he thought of how he had enjoyed teasing Finn in the car earlier simply by keeping quiet, he definitely felt tense. In a moment that felt like a hour, he dug to the root of his nerves and six words sprung to the forefront of his mind: '_I bet you're gunna rock it,_' and as that first tap arrived, a beaming look crossed Kurt's face as he decided that he would indeed 'rock it' when fuelled by an endorsement such as that.

"_Ra ra ah ah ah ah, rum-ma, rum-ma-mah, Gaga, ooo-la-la, want your bad romance!"_

The stage was an explosion of colour as the lights rose on the 'Little Monsters'. Finn still had no idea what that meant and he didn't quite understand the gibberish lyrics that were streaming from Kurt's mouth, but it didn't seem to matter anymore how clueless he was as Finn watched Kurt burst into life; he truly seemed to be in his element, and smiling broader than Finn had ever seen as the performers engaged their routine. Finn surveyed the crazy dance moves and facial expressions with amusement. He felt like he was missing something, but Finn had to admit that the song was catchy.

"_Maybe I should listen to some of her stuff?"_ he thought, laughing out load when the group organised themselves into a line, and then Kurt popped his head into view from the middle with a rogue, _"Hey!"_ As the performers hit the chorus, Finn wondered if he was beginning to understand the bizarre costumes. The way he figured it, if Gaga's songs and dance moves were all big bunches of crazy, then the clothes probably had to be too, to give some kind of message that still eluded him; that's what Mr Schue would say.

It occurred to Finn that he should probably look at the girls at least once; after all it was their performance as well, and Santana did look smoking hot in her black lace costume. Finn also thought to himself that this would be the perfect time to rekindle his attempts to win Rachel now that Jessie seemed to be back out of the picture. All he would have to do was pay attention to her so that he could compliment her on a few details of her performance later and she would give him all the time that he wanted, except Finn couldn't really feel any motivation; the girls were being swallowed up by Kurt's magnetism.

Thus, it seemed fitting to Finn that at the end of the performance the girls circled around Kurt as he stood in his favourite Gaga pose, singing the main lyrics, and that the end position was the group of them huddled together with Kurt crouched down front-centre. To Finn, it justly felt like the performance solely belonged to Kurt.

Finn stood, applauding his approval along with Mr Schue. He could tell that as the other boys joined in the clapping behind him, they were wondering why he was suddenly so into Lady Gaga, but Finn didn't care. He felt like he had been taught a lesson, and although he may not have fully understood it, he wholeheartedly appreciated it.

Kurt was ecstatic; that was easily one of his best performances ever, he could feel it. What made Kurt happier still was that he could hear Finn clapping his approval. After all, the whole new level of awesome that he had just reached was down to Finn. Kurt scanned the auditorium and when he made eye contact with Finn, he received thumbs up and one of Finn's should-be-world-famous lopsided smiles and his insides felt like they were still vigorously dancing. Kurt could feel himself blushing, but as he swept a stray piece of wig out of his face he could be confident that the red in his cheeks would be interpreted by everyone in the room as lethargy after their tiring performance.

A huge surge of pride flew around Finn's body as he watched Kurt blush at the reaction he had created within the audience and the girls, who were all flocking around him, giving him their own praise. Finn felt delighted that every single person in the room had noticed Kurt's brilliance during that performance, even the girls who could only seen him for a fraction of the time, and Finn gasped as he felt his unnamed fuzziness sharply focus in his mind.

It was a sense of duty; it was his duty to protect this Kurt, to keep this happy, delicate Kurt safe. Finn grappled to pin down the evading reason why he felt this strong feeling of orbit that was drawing him to Kurt, but at least he had figured out something at last, and in that moment, that was enough.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Finn sat in his car, drumming his hands on the steering wheel along to 'Vertigo' by U2, whilst waiting for Kurt to pry himself away from Mercedes, no doubt. After the 'Bad Romance' performance, the girls and Kurt had taken their notes from Mr Schue, of which there were precious few, and disappeared backstage shrieking with satisfaction, so Finn hadn't got his opportunity to personally congratulate Kurt. He didn't realise how much that had irritated him until he got to his car and realised that he couldn't sit still for wanting to praise Kurt.

Finn strived to comprehend why he was so eager to give Kurt his opinion; he began his reasoning by suggesting to himself that it was because Kurt was his friend who he wanted to encourage, but Finn knew that it ran deeper than that. The agitation that he was feeling was related to his earlier recognition of defensive duty, he could feel it. Finn felt like he was required to give Kurt, for Kurt's sake, conformation of his triumph in order to protect him from any doubt that he may have, and as it was just approaching the point where Finn felt like he might need to go and look for Kurt as he was so desperate to let out his kudos, the passenger side door swiftly opened, making him jump a little as his mind reengaged with reality.

After refocusing, Finn saw that Kurt had already hastily dropped into the passenger seat and was smiling in his direction, breathing heavily. Finn smiled back at Kurt, and Kurt felt himself laugh shakily as he observed his favourite adorable, slightly quizzical expression that overcame Finn when he was trying to suss something out.

"_That was so much fun!"_ Kurt exclaimed, throwing his bag onto his knees.

"_I have got to say Kurt, I didn't really get Lady Gaga at first, but that was totally awesome. Amazing job dude,"_ Finn blurted out, rotating his whole body to face Kurt. Kurt was slightly taken aback with this forceful a reaction. The last he had heard, Finn thought that Gaga was the weirdest and least awesome assignment that the Glee club had ever been set, that's why the boys focussed on Kiss for their theatricality project in the first place, but Kurt was pleasantly surprised enough to let this point slide.

"_Aaaw, thanks Finn. That's really sweet,"_ Kurt sighed, patting Finn's knee twice before retracting to his seat. Finn shifted in his seat slightly, thinking that Kurt had said that rather monotonously. He couldn't dispel the feeling that Kurt was only humouring him; probably thinking that what he had said was for effect or simply to give the appearance of being supportive. Finn felt drawn to make Kurt realise that he was being serious, and he had to do it now.

"_Kurt,"_ Finn began, leaning further across the car, resting his elbow on the handbrake, _"I'm completely serious. You were great up there today, you were the only one people were watching. You did really good, and you kind of made me get Gaga a bit too, I guess she's not all bad," _he yielded, with a shrug and a friendly smile, which quickly switched to a smirk of satisfaction as he watched Kurt, who was for once lost for words, try to formulate a response.

"_Ok?"_ Kurt queried as Finn settled back into his seat and started the engine, with a subtle smile on his face.

"_Well that's very kind of you Finn, and I'm glad that I managed to educate you,"_ Kurt finished with a flourish, his usual composure returning to his voice.

Several moments of silence followed as Finn pulled away from their parking spot and set off on the journey home. The two boys travelled in mutual contentment, basking in the gentleness of their brief conversation, but as they came to a stop at some traffic, something occurred to Finn.

"_So why were you so breathless then, when you got in the car? What were you up to, talking to Mercedes?"_ he asked jokingly, expecting to hear some gabbled story about an incredible plan Kurt had excitedly organised to go out with the girls later to celebrate their glorious performance.

"_Oh, um…,"_ Kurt trailed off, glancing out of the window, _"no. I ran into Karofsky in the hallway, and he just got under my skin a bit,"_ Kurt paused, facing forward,_ "I think he had a late gym session, if you ask me he needs a few more of them,"_ he finished with a half hearted chuckle, evidently regretting mentioning Karofsky at all. Finn gripped the steering wheel so tightly in a pang of hot rage that he could see the white of his knuckles. Shocking himself with the extent of his response, Finn steadied himself with a couple of deep breaths whilst Kurt looked on, seemingly rather uneasy.

"_Kurt, you should have told me when we were at school. I would have said something, I promised you,"_ Finn said, his tone as levelled as he could possibly manage, but his voice still sounded stretched to his own mind. He gave Kurt a cursory glance before returning his attention to a rather tight bend in the road. Kurt felt a thrill travel through him at the memory of Finn's promise to him that morning, it already felt like days ago, but at the same time as being excited that Finn seemed to be so protective of him, Kurt didn't want Finn to get caught in any crossfire. He didn't think that Finn could handle it.

"_It's ok Finn," _Kurt reassured him,_ "it was only Karofsky on his own, and I think that he had tired himself out, what with the minimal extracurricular exercise and all, so he wasn't up for much. Needless to say I handled it,"_ Kurt said sharply. Finn could easily tell however that Kurt was presenting bravado; Finn knew how Karofsky had the power to intimidate Kurt, to make him quiver as he passed him in the hallway, and as the rage began to structure itself again in the pit of Finn's stomach, they arrived home, drawing up onto the driveway.

"_Well, alright then Kurt,"_ Finn sighed, feigning acceptance of Kurt's statement, _"as long as your all good." _

And with that, Kurt gave him one last desperate attempt at a normal smile before he left the car. Finn killed the engine and unbuckled his seat belt, all the while watching Kurt waft his way towards the front door, and it was there sat in the car whilst watching Kurt rummage for his keys, that Finn realised he still held a fascinating tingling sensation where Kurt had tapped him lightly on his right knee.

_**-Caught in a Bad Romance-**_

That evening, Finn was curled up on the sofa, which had not always been easy considering his size. That was one of his favourite things about moving in with Kurt and Burt; they had more room, which meant bigger furniture, which meant easier living for him. It was a bit weird, but Finn hadn't realised how much he liked curling up as he sat until the move had been finalised, and now he smiled to himself as he exploited that little perk.

There was something playing on his mind though. It was obvious to Finn from the car ride home that although Kurt had appreciated his promise to stand up for him, he hadn't fully believed it. This upset Finn as he realised with great surprise that he couldn't really remember being as serious about anything else he had said as much as that promise in his entire life. Finn could not remember being that serious even when telling Quinn that he loved her, back when he wanted and cherished her, before she broke his heart.

Beneath his nostalgic mess, Finn stored that thought away for later, conceding that he would have to delve into it a bit deeper later, along with that tingly sensation he had experienced in the car. For now though, Finn knew what he had to do. He had to come up with a way to show Kurt how much he meant his promise, because Kurt obviously wasn't listening to him. Finn also knew that he had to show Kurt how much he now understood Lady Gaga's message of unconditional love, as he suspected that Kurt doubted him on that front as well, and it was strangely important to Finn that Kurt did notice his progress. Finn felt proud of himself for finally working out the point of Lady Gaga and he felt that he had to show Kurt that he understood what he had been talking about all assignment long, to give him some validation that his efforts had been worth it.

Finding himself desperately clutching at straws, Finn was relieved when his mom Carole walked into the room, carrying a gigantic mug of tea. She smiled his way whilst gently swinging the living room door shut, juggling her tea between hands, and then made her way to settle next to Finn.

"_Hey honey, what are you up to?"_ she enquired warmly, sipping her tea. Finn sighed deeply; searching himself to see if he wanted to let his Mom into his current thought processes, which he unexpectedly felt much more self conscious about. Eventually, Finn had to yield to his need for help.

"_Well Mom, I'm trying to find a way to make Kurt believe that I've got his back and that I don't care what the football jerks think, 'cus he doesn't really get it, and I don't know what to do. I was hoping it could kinda relate to Lady Gaga 'cus Kurt's so in to her, but I don't really know,"_ Finn trailed off, realising that he was beginning to ramble.

"_Um, well,"_ Carole said simply with a slightly perplexed look, pausing to place her tea on the coffee table, "_tomorrow is Friday and the last day of your theatricality project right?"_ she fished, smiling sneakily.

"_Uh…yeah?" _Finn confirmed warily, worrying what possible solutions may be thrown his way.

"_Well, why don't you go in to school tomorrow in a Lady Gaga costume, I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to rustle something up?"_ Carole said reassuringly, obviously rather pleased with her plan. At first, all Finn could imagine was what would be said or done to him, but he soon remembered that that was supposed to be the point. He decided there and then that he had to force himself to do what he needed to do, and this was it; Finn had to admit that his Mom's idea was the perfect resolution.

"_Um, cool. That, er, sounds good, but what would I go as? I don't know any of her costumes, only the ones the girls have worn and I'm not really into the idea of wearing any of those,"_ Finn said, beginning to see some glaring practical issues with his Mom's proposal.

"_Let's do some research then, go and get your laptop,"_ Carole sighed, as if it were obvious.

Reaching the bottom of the basement stairs, Finn made his way over to his bedside table which held his laptop. As he retrieved it, Finn glanced over at Kurt, who was led on his stomach reading, and smiled at the playful way that Kurt's legs were subconsciously swinging back and forth above him as he was lost in his book. As Finn started back towards the stairs, laptop in hand, he could feel Kurt's eyes on his back and he felt a simmering within himself, and as he purposefully paused on the bottom step, Finn grinned towards the wall as Kurt spoke to him.

"_What are you doing?"_ Kurt inquired quizzically, eyeing Finn over the top edge of his worn copy of 'It Had to Be You'. Finn smiled sweetly at him, making Kurt feel giddy, but also slightly suspicious; ironically, Finn was never skilled at hiding the fact that he was hiding something.

"_Nothing, just keeping Mom company, doing some web surfing,"_ Finn shrugged casually as he backed his way up the stairs. Kurt kept his eyes on Finn as he jogged up the stairs, and he may have found himself thinking about how good Finn looked from the back in those particular jeans, but Kurt hadn't missed the sly curving at the corners of Finn's lips.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Finn felt an immense sense of liberation as he edged his way along the hallways of McKinley High, adorned in his Lady Gaga costume. So, alright, he had to admit that he hadn't worn it for the whole school day like he had originally considered, and he hadn't shown Kurt yet, but now that Finn had finally built up enough courage to actually wear it at all, he figured it could be an end of the week surprise kind of thing. Plus, he found himself truly enjoying it, despite his pulsing blood feeling like molten lava beneath his cheeks.

Finn was aided slightly in his breakout promenade by how comical he was finding the startled reactions of his fellow students; he had always been so painfully obsessed with fitting in and Finn could tell by the way that they stared at him, their mouths gaping wide, that they were just as surprised at what Finn was doing as he was. With a wince, Finn recalled his comments to Kurt about blending in and experienced a renewed epiphany of just how wrong he had been. It was thrilling to stand out, to have people look his way, even if it was due to this rather embarrassing situation; it was a very peculiar mix of feelings to feel in such a short walk down a hallway.

Put simply, Finn was exceedingly pleased with himself because his costume choice had been a stroke of genius. Whilst perusing Lady Gaga videos on the internet with his Mom, Finn had stumbled across a clip of a performance that she had done for the Royal Variety Performance in the UK. Captivated by the mystical appearance of the set and lighting, he had clicked play and instantly recognised, with a pinch of regret, the song that had been playing in the basement when he and Kurt had had their fight. Caught in his memory, Finn also fondly recalled the way that Kurt had contently hummed and swayed along to its melodies as he was fixing his shoe.

"_That's Kurt's favourite Lady Gaga song!"_ Finn exclaimed, pointing excitedly, _"I know that cus Kurt says he loves the emotion,"_ Finn gushed effusively, smiling at his Mom. Carole gave her son an affectionately perplexed look as she watched him continue to follow the Lady Gaga video with the goofy expression that took siege of Finn's face when he was at his most joyous. It had been a while since she had seen that expression, and although soul lifting, she had to maternally ponder as to why it had returned. With a loving smile, she sighed inwardly as the truth dawned on her, and although it may aggravate a few delicate issues in the near future, she knew that at that moment she knew more about what was happening to Finn than he did, and she had to help him realise what was going on.

"_Well then, why don't we make that one?"_ Carole suggested. Finn's enthusiasm receded somewhat as he considered himself wearing the costume. He didn't know if he was ready to be quite that theatrical.

"_Oh, I don't know Mom, it's like a plastic dress, I can't wear that,"_ he scoffed, sure that there had to be another costume he could wear that wasn't quite so outlandish, _"Anyway, where are we gunna get a huge piece of red plastic by tomorrow?"_

"_Well Finn, it's not really a dress; it's more like a robe,"_ Carole reasoned strongly. She was not about to let her sons new found gusto disappear because of his tedious shyness and insecurities, _"You like Star Wars right? Well, this doesn't look that different to the robe things that the Jedi's wear does it? And look, you can wear a cool mask with it and everything."_ Finn deliberated over the costume with new eyes, carefully considering his Mom's words, which he didn't think were that accurate. However, he appreciated her attempt to make him more comfortable with the idea; he was relieved that he had allowed himself to divulge his situation to her as he felt himself already starting to falter, but Finn was secure in the knowledge that his mother wouldn't let him.

"_I guess it does look kinda cool, in a Batman villain kind of way," _Finn shrugged, picturing Kurt and his reasons for doing this clearly in his mind for a source of strength and conviction.

"_And you know what? We don't have to worry about material; I've got an old red shower curtain upstairs in the hallway closet that would be absolutely perfect!"_ Carole smiled, _"Go and get it and we'll get started."_ Finn swiftly rose off of the couch, it was getting late and he didn't know how long sowing anything took. He paused in the living room doorway and looked back towards his Mom.

"_Wait, you brought an old shower curtain with us when we moved?"_ Finn enquired jokingly, his eyebrows rising.

"_You never know when these things are going to come in handy,"_ Carole said simply, bending to retrieve her sowing kit from the sideboard cupboard.

"_That is such a Mom thing to say!"_ Finn laughed as he left the room on his errand.

Only a couple of very skilled and impressive hours on his Moms part later, and Finn had his very own 'Speechless' costume. By the time it was finished, he was practically falling asleep on his feet. It was late and he had been standing up for hours, modelling for his Mom whilst she took her measurements, but it had been totally worth it. The costume looked fantastic and as he retreated to the cosiness of his bed, it amazed Finn how his Mom could make a shower curtain of all things look so genuine.

Finn was pulled back into the present by the unmistakable sound of clanging metal that could only be a locker being slammed into. Every student knew what that sound was, especially in a school such as theirs where there was a slightly lapse sense of duty among the faculty where bullying was concerned. Call it intuition or call it guess work, but Finn knew which confrontation he would find in progress around the corner, and when he heard the faint sound of Kurt's unique voice raised in clear distress, Finn began to run down the corridor as fast as he could manage. His heart tripled its pace in a second, and although anger was clearly a primary emotion in his mind, his body was flooded by the tingly sensation that had been localised in his knee after that car ride home a couple of days ago. Now, as Finn rounded the corner, it radiated through every inch of him, from his finger tips which were balled into fists to his pounding feet and, considering his size, that was a lot of tingles.

He spotted the conflict up ahead of him and felt an injection of pride as he heard Kurt standing up for himself. That wasn't going to stop Finn though. He knew that however defiant Kurt may have seemed, he desperately needed his help and as Finn screeched to a stop a few paces behind Azimio and Karofsky, he straightened himself to his full, impressive height and puffed out his chest. In that moment, Finn truly felt like a superhero. He took just a second to steady himself, and then breathed in deeply as he prepared to finally show Kurt, his damsel, who he really was, and his shiny new feelings on standing out; it had been one hell of a week.

"_I swear to you that I will never change. I'm proud to be different; it's the best thing about me. So go ahead, hit me,"_ Kurt dared them through gritted teeth. It seemed to Finn that he had arrived just in time as Kurt was starting to sound defeated. Now it was his long overdue turn to take charge.

"_You're not hitting anyone,"_ Finn stated simply, with as much authority as he could manage. He put on his most intimating look and glared at the bullies as they turned to face him and smirked as they were rendered speechless, pun fully intended, at the sight of him in his costume.

"_Is he wearing a red rubber dress or am I tripping?"_ Azimio asked Karofsky, obvious insult in his voice, but Finn looked straight through them to smile and nod at Kurt as the dumbstruck boy breathed his incredulity at what he was seeing. Kurt could not believe what Finn was doing and he realised with great happiness that Finn was not lying the other day when he said that he now understood everything that Kurt was trying to convey. Kurt's carefully penned in love exploded from its bonds when he also realised that Finn had meant his promise of protection. He knew that he would be an emotional wreck later as he tried to regain himself, but for now he was just going to enjoy the feeling that Finn cared for him, and the gleam returned to his eyes.

"_I wanna thank you Kurt. The reason that I'm here right now, in a shower curtain, is because of you,"_ Finn said lovingly, smiling his lop-sided smile in Kurt's direction whilst purposefully ignoring the scoffs of the other boys, _"And I'm not gunna let anyone lay a hand on you,"_ he finished, stepping forward with a snarl in his voice and on his lips.

"_Really dude? Cus I'm pretty sure we can take both of you,"_ Karofsky sneered, tapping Azimio with the back of his hand. With his new found confidence, and with Kurt eyeing him intently, Finn found that Karofsky's idiotic attempts at intimidation were sadly pitiful and, drawing poise from his costume, he knew that he had this won. Finn glanced down at the floor with a smirk before approaching the two football players slowly, deliberately, never breaking eye contact. After dealing with cowards like these guys for such a long time, whether it is in the halls or calling plays on the football field, Finn knew that a convincing offense was your best bet of getting what you want.

"_You don't have to take both of us, only me. I don't care if you go at me two-on-one if that makes you feel better, but you are not touching Kurt,"_ Finn finished, leaving only about a foot of space between him and Karofsky, _"Never again,"_ Finn whispered aggressively, glancing over Karofsky's shoulder at Kurt. They only met each others eyes for a fraction of no time at all, but Kurt saw the force behind Finn's eyes and felt a thrill of admiration and frank eroticism that hit him like a tidal wave; Kurt had known that Finn had the disposition to be stubborn at times, but he would never have guessed that Finn could be so commanding. Kurt wouldn't have argued against Finn for anything in the world in that moment, apart from Finn himself perhaps, and it seemed that the drones thought the same.

"_Alright then, Glee boy. We'll leave your little fag boyfriend alone, this time. You can't watch him forever,"_ Azimio mocked as he backed away, arms raised in the air. Finn heard Kurt's breath catch at the insult and knew that he had to get the last word if he wanted to make the most of the unpleasantness.

"_Maybe not, but lets see how brave you feel when you know that every time you morons threaten him and I'm not there, I'll be coming to get you back,"_ Finn started to edge his way forward again, vigilantly matching the pace of the backing up jocks for maximum creepy effect. Paired with the eeriness of his costume, the advancement did the trick and Kurt sniggered as he watched the boys retreat with no idea what to say next. After a few paces, they gave up, and with mutual huffs of frustration, they turned and made their way around the corner. The tension snapped as soon as the bullies were out of sight and as Finn and Kurt connected eyes once more, they erupted into the most infectious, gut destroying laughter that either one of them had ever experienced. It was only a couple of minutes at the most, but two minutes was a long time to do nothing but laugh, and by the time they both straightened up, they were gasping for air. Kurt looked into Finn's flushed face and felt his heart swell.

"_Thank you Finn, that was incredible! And your costume is just fabulous, where did you get it?"_ Kurt asked whilst giving one of Finn's shoulder pads a tweak, still giggling. As far as he knew, fancy dress shops didn't exist in Lima.

"_Me and Mom made it. Well, Mom mostly, I just stood there, but I did make the mask,"_ Finn pointed towards his face proudly, high on the joy of his victory.

"_Oh really?"_ Kurt said, giving Finn a proper once over, _"where did you get the idea?"_

"_The internet. That's what I was doing with my laptop last night. I saw Lady G doing a performance of 'Speechless' dressed in this, and I knew it was your favourite song, so…,"_ Finn trailed off, taking the time to re-appreciate his costume.

"_Wow. Thanks Finn," _was all that Kurt could manage, the relative enormity of what had just transpired finally catching up with him. Finn could see that Kurt needed to go home, and he lightly punched Kurt's arm. There would be plenty of time for explanations later.

"_Lets go home dude, dunno bout you but I'm starving. My Mom said she's cooking tonight, so dinner will be good,"_ Finn smiled, stabilising the situation in a heartbeat, and as they began to stroll down the hallway towards the main doors Kurt started to snigger again at the fact that no matter what was happening, Finn's stomach was always near the top of his agenda.

_**-Caught in a Bad Romance-**_

Dinner was a happy occasion; Kurt recounted the story of Finn's success over his bullies to Burt and Carole whilst Finn never broke from eating, blushing modestly all the while. Kurt laughed as Burt gave Finn a few manly pats on the shoulder making Finn turn a deeper shade of beetroot. It always made Kurt chuckle how modest Finn had always been, regarding any aspect of his life, it was actually one of Kurt's favourite things about Finn; he had so much going for him, but Finn always maintained the thought that he was average. Finn felt proud of himself for what he had achieved earlier, and he cherished Burt's approval of his actions, despite finding the praise ridiculously embarrassing; to Finn, he had simply done what was required of him and, if anything, he had left it a bit late.

However, the occurrence that Finn was finding most unnerving about this dinner was the fact that his Mom was uncharacteristically quiet. The only times that Finn could recall when his Mom was this silent was when she was in deep thought or smug, she was always this quiet when they had disagreements and she knew that she was right. Judging by the discreet smile she was directing towards her dinner plate, Finn assumed that the latter reason was to blame. Finn struggled to work out what was going on with her as she turned her peacefully knowledgeable face towards Kurt, who looked radiant as he and Burt carried on discussing how Azimio and Karofsky had scuttled away. This only confused Finn further, and as they finished dinner he found that he was becoming increasingly frustrated. That was until he again looked at Kurt, who switched his gaze to Finn's eyes, and Finn felt all of the agitation drain from him in an instant.

However, looking into Kurt's happy eyes made something click, miles away in the dark of his mind, and a pulse of indistinguishable feeling swept through Finn's body, causing a rogue gasp to escape from him before he could stop it. Kurt's eyebrows knitted together slightly as a questioning expression showed on his face, and Finn realised with worry that his gasp had been prominent enough to gain Burt and his Mom's attention as well. Rather unsubtly, Finn disguised his gasp as a yawn and stretched his arms out above his head, trying his best to look realistic.

"_Are you alright honey?"_ Carole asked him, clearly seeing through his act, _"You're sweating a bit, was there something wrong with your food?" _

"_Oh, no, it was…," _Finn faltered under Kurt's staring eyes,_ "it was great. I'm just tired, I think I'm gunna go downstairs and lie down," _he finished,rising from his seat awkwardly and starting towards the stairs. He fumbled with the door handle and began his dissent before he heard Kurt fill the doorway behind him.

"_Finn, do you mind if I come and talk to you, or do you want some quiet?"_ Kurt asked delicately, cutely tilting his head to the side and smiling friendly. Finn was dazed at the emotional palpitations that were happening inside of him, but he knew that he couldn't say no to that.

"_Sure Kurt, the company would be great,"_ Finn said, seemingly on autopilot. He reached the bedroom and stumbled over to his bed where he settled rather ungraciously, facing Kurt who had mirrored his movements to be facing him. Finn knew he had to try harder to keep it together; he was starting to scare himself over how out of control he felt and he didn't want to show Kurt, he was supposed to be the strong one. Kurt watched Finn ball his hands into his duvet, and couldn't quite work out why Finn was so tense or claiming fatigue as he couldn't of looked more awake. Something was obviously making Finn uncomfortable, but Kurt would help him with that later. It was most likely something trivial, and Kurt had to say what he had to say.

"_I just wanted to say thanks for everything you did this week,"_ Kurt sighed, letting his bottled up emotions drip out just a little bit, _"I know it must have been so hard for you to dress up like that today, especially in front of those Neanderthals," _he laughed nervously, gaining a small smirk from Finn. Kurt got the impression that he was somehow the source of Finn's discomfort, and he was worried that Finn was regretting what he had done, so he decided that he needed to wrap things up.

"_And I want you to know, I understand that you understand what I've been talking about all week, what with the theatricality, and I really appreciate you promising to help me, and then delivering. What you did earlier just about made my year!"_ Kurt gabbled with far more nervous laughter, growing worried by the distant, twisted expression taking control of Finn's face.

Finn felt glad that his objectives were complete. He had shown Kurt his understanding of Kurt's most cherished ideals, and he had proudly followed through on his promise whilst freeing himself of the toxic bonds of involuntary compliance to the footballers' rules once and for all, but he could not pretend that that was all he was feeling anymore. Finn had to be honest with himself; he had experienced the pain of being lied to over crucial, life changing things and he would be the ultimate hypocrite if he were to do it to himself. He had to admit his reasons for trying so desperately to make Kurt happy. As he stared at Kurt, with what he realised was probably quite an impassive face, and only fazed into what he was saying for every other word, the click in the dark became perfectly clear. The overpowering tingly sensation that he had been experiencing whenever he was around Kurt, whenever he was protecting him, whenever he looked at him, Finn had only ever felt ghosts of that feeling once before. That was towards Quinn, and it only really kicked in when he was expecting the baby, making him think that it was more fabrication than true feeling; that was nothing compared to what he felt earlier that day, running down the hallway.

It struck Finn all at once that he had thought of Kurt as his damsel in distress, and how powerful that thought had made him, had thought that Kurt was radiant with happiness at dinner and cute when he cocked his head the way that he always did, and had never felt guilt like he had the morning after their fight when he had spotted Kurt's 'Wizard of Oz' DVD…

Finn didn't know how or when he had stood up, or worked his way over to stand in front of Kurt, but now he was looking down into Kurt's face, breathing heavily and wondering what to do next. Kurt felt like he should stand up, uncomfortable with the silence and having to crane his neck to look up Finn's long body, so he stood shakily, trying to decipher Finn's abnormal behaviour whilst worrying that he had said something wrong. Finn stared at Kurt with such ferocious intensity that Kurt found himself scared as to what was to follow; it looked like Finn was crumbling apart in front of him.

"_Please tell me you love me Kurt, I know you do,"_ Finn begged desperately. Every one of Kurt's cells was shocked into statuesque stillness and he could have stood there for eternity trying to make sense of what had just happened, but Finn's unbearably pained face forced him into a response; he could try and make sense of things later.

"_Of course I do. If you know I do, then you must know I always have,"_ Kurt whispered.

"_Hug me, please,"_ Finn whimpered, in a beautifully childlike voice, needing Kurt like he had never needed anyone before as harsh sobs ripped from his body. Kurt hastily proceeded to step forward into the best singular moment of his life, the strong arms that he frequently dreamed about wrapping around his shoulders with a fierce grip. Kurt hooked his arms around Finn's quivering body, gripping his muscular shoulder blades as hard as he could and simply stood in that position with his face buried deep in Finn's broad chest, which was shaking with deep sobs of relief. The intimate warmth of Finn's body was unimaginable, and whist Kurt had absolutely no idea what was going on, for the meantime he was just going to enjoy that and bring as much befuddled comfort as he could.


End file.
